


Glass Terranium

by Nakimochiku



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 17:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakimochiku/pseuds/Nakimochiku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren wakes up in the underground slums of Sina. When he's rescued by a pick pocketing street rat named Levi, he decides to run with his little crew and help them out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glass Terranium

 The rumble of carriages wakes him. Not entirely new, but entirely too close. Eren blinks, rubs his head and glances around. No dreary castle walls, just the bright trickle of sunlight through his half cracked eyelids. He groans, waves his hand over his head, and rolls to sit up, crawling weakly to his knees. 

 What does he last remember? His searching fingers find a crumbling stone wall, and he pulls himself up. He remembers a fist fight with Jean. Talking with Mikasa and Armin. Following Lance Corporal Levi back into the dungeons... Eren stumbles a bit as he walks, head aching terribly, and eyes stinging with light. The clatter of carriage wheels and the whinny of horses are uncomfortably close now.

 A bony hand seizes him by the wrist and hauls him back the way he’d come, another bony hand wrapped around his mouth. Eren blearily watches a caravan of carriages pass before struggling from the arms caging him. "What’s all that about?" Eren demands, rounding on his captor and stopping short.

 "Are you fucking stupid?" The ghost pale waif asks him, his cloud of dark hair falling into his eyes as he glares up at Eren dispassionately. "You wanna get thrown in jail? Standing in the street during a demonstration's the fastest way to do it."

 Eren's brows furrow. The boy rummages in his pockets, inspects a couple of tidbits, and tosses them at Eren's feet. His wallet, a hankie, a missing button. "Useless as a mark too. Keeping this though." He twirls Eren's key around his finger, gunmetal grey eyes catching its golden sheen. "It’s pretty."

 "Hey--!" Eren reaches for him, but the boy darts away as slippery as an eel, dodging down the half lit alleyway. Eren dashes after him, teeth grit in rage, but no matter how fast he runs the boy is faster, flitting in and out of niches and clambering on walls like a cat, leaping and graceful. "Come back that's mine! Dammit!" He huffs and keeps charging forward, skidding to a halt as the boy rounds a sharp corner and Eren struggles to follow. 

 There’s no sky in the strange world they live in. Just crumbling buildings and a dome over head, broken down in some places so that light shines in, and casting the stones in complete darkness in others. Eren sighs heavily as he comes to an open area. The boy is there with two other kids. One tries to light a fire while the other blows delicately on the tinder. The boy twirls Eren's key round and round his finger until it makes little wooshing noises in the air.

 "Give that back!" Eren snaps, holding out his hand for it. The boy glances drily at him over his shoulder, petting the little girl's head absently.

 "Why?"

 Eren falters at that. He expects a fight. A dare. A challenge. Not such a cut and dry question. His brows furrow. "Because it’s really important to me."

 The boy snorts. "If it’s that important to you, you should protect it better." He says. He whips the key back and forth, following it with his eyes. "When things are important to you, you should protect them with everything you've got." He twirls the keys and flicks it towards him. Eren fumbles for it, slipping the cord back around his neck. He thought the boy was young, since he's so skinny and small... But his words aren’t the words of a child.

 "How old are you?"

 "What’s it to ya?" He shoots back just as quickly, sending a molten glare over his shoulder. Eren tenses expectantly, flinching away. The boy clicks his tongue. "Anyone asks, I’m 18. They’d take away these two if I wasn’t." He shrugs then, pushing a couple of dry leaves into their tiny fire. "I don’t think I’m that old though."

 Eren edges closer. He kicks a couple of twigs and leaves closer, to add to the fire. All it accomplishes is kicking up dust. "What about this place?" He gestures at the great domed ceiling above them. They are sitting in a patch of sunlight quickly growing dimmer as the sun slips by and clouds skid across the sky. The boy shrugs. "And the military police, you said they had demonstrations--"

 "You ask a lot of question." Suddenly the boy is close, rusted razor pressed close to his throat and eyes burning very bright and hot. "I don’t like questions, chicken shit. Stay, and bite your tongue, or piss off." He backs off again, and Eren blinks. He sits warily at the little fire, and watches the little girl glare at a hard heel of bread.

 "I’m Eren." He offers. The two children glance at the boy, who flicks him a dismissive glance and tries to gnaw his own bit of bread. "If you have any milk, I have a way to make that bread better."

 "If I had milk, do you really think they’d be that small?" He gestures at the kids, and glowers. "Next you’ll be wanting honey and apples and gold to go with our bread."

 Eren smiles cheekily. "The honey and milk will do." He watches the girl bounce and lean over the boy's lap to whisper in his ear, he clucks his tongue impatiently at her, and turns his sharp eyes back to Eren.

 "If I deliver milk and honey, you promise you can make this shit eatable?"

 "Edible." Eren corrects. The boy raises a brow. "Yeah."

 He stands and stomps out the fire with a clunky, beaten boot, before he kicks his shoes off. "Easier to hit a mark barefoot." He explains when he sees Eren watching him. "You really know nothing about this world do you?" He shakes his head and bends at the knee to tie the little girl's ratty blanket around her waist. The boy he lets figure himself out. "Levi." He says. Eren frowns, and the little girl beams.

 "What?" 

 "My name's Levi. If we're hitting a mark together, I guess we're pack. Eren." He pushes his hair back and gathers it with a string, there’s a smear of grime on his forehead that Eren's tempted to wipe away.

 "I’m Isabel!" The little girl beams exuberantly at him. Levi clucks at her and quickly tames her wild tresses into two pigtails. "That’s Farlan! He doesn’t speak much, but he's got me!" Eren smiles. "I like you, you seem dumb."

 "Little twerp." Eren says without heat. He’s been told he’s dumb, certainly, and never let anyone who’s said so get away with it, but he’s not going to take real offense when her guardian poises to protect her. He’s not that dumb. "So where are we going? We're taking the kids?"

 "I’d like you to find any look out better than Isabel. And Farlan has world renowned sticky fingers." Levi rolls up his tattered sleeves and slips on a pair of gloves. "You look more or less useless, so you'll be our pack horse."

 *

 The surface is luxuriously paved in cobblestones. Ladies in flounced dresses parade with little umbrellas, flashing jewels on their wrists. Eren gapes. His mother had a pair of fresh water pearl earrings. She kept them locked away, her only treasure. These ladies show theirs off coldly, as though they mean nothing.

 "Come on." Levi hisses, grasping his shoulder and dragging him back into the shadow of an alley way. "Staring at it won’t make it ours." He clambers up a ladder attached to the side of the building, and Eren follows. From the roof he can see the whole city, every meticulous building and dazzling roof top. The walls loom ominously. He follows after Levi, but keeps his eyes fixed on them. "There."

 Below is a general store. People move in and out at random, all well dressed and prim and proper. Levi points one skinny finger at the back door, accessible via a small courtyard.  Levi walks through the plan, and Eren follows him down while Isabel and Farlan get into position. It occurs to Eren that perhaps they should be doing this at night, under the cover of darkness, but Levi's already broken the lock on the store room door and stolen inside like a cat.

 He can barely hear his feet pad on the hardwood as he moves. It’s dim in the store room, lit by a single lantern. An open door leads into the general store proper, flooding the entrance way with light. Eren grunts when Levi shoves a sack into his hands. He presses one bony finger at Eren's lips with a glare. Bottles of milk, apples, slabs of salted meat, jars of honey and other bits and ends fall into the bag one after another. 

 Somewhere in the court yard, a cat yowls. Levi punches him in the arm as warning and steals back out the door, Eren hot on his heels, his heart pounding in his throat. Levi's over the court yard wall first, hands out stretched for the sack Eren tosses to him and nimbly clambers over the wall. "We did it." He grins at Levi, but his smile is returned with a cold, concerned glare.

 "Where are the kids?" An inhuman scream splits the air, then trails off into blubbering, then hikes up again. Isabel. Levi sucks a quick breath in through his mouth and nearly vaults over the courtyard wall without a second thought. Eren holds his arm and pulls him back.

 "Wait, wait, I think I have an idea." He says before Levi can struggle out of his reach. "If they’re still in the alley way, we can get them out without causing too big a fuss." Eren prays his idea, based off a plan Armin explained to him once, works. Two men have Farlan and Isabel cornered in the alley way. Eren waits atop the general store, and Levi waits atop the other building across the way. The men below drags at Isabel's hair, demanding she return the stolen goods. Eren holds his fingers up. They swing down simultaneously, landing on both men with pained groans and grunts. Eren seizes Farlan by the hand and makes a dash for the court yard wall, boosting the boy over it. Levi is close behind him, Isabel tucked under his arm. 

 They breathe for a moment, slumped in the tall grass on the other side of the courtyard wall before grabbing their spoils and running for the long path back into the underground. The shadows and musty scent of stale air is almost a comfort, hiding them from any prying eyes. They dodge down unpaved streets and rubbish filled alleys like hell hounds are on their heels. Isabel scrubs the remnants of tears from her face as Levi carries her, lip caught between her teeth.

 "I’m sorry we got caught." She murmurs when they stop, holding Farlan's hand. Levi shrugs, slips back into his boots that look two sizes too big for him. That doesn’t really seem to comfort her, so Eren pets her hair. She smiles weakly at him. 

 "It was our first time hitting such a big mark. We'll get better at it." Levi glances around and unearths a rickety ladder, setting it up beneath a smashed window in a grey stone wall. Eren follows the trio up into their hideout.

 "Woah." He gapes. He climbs the rest of the way through the small hole, staring at the collection of glittery things, buttons, bits of coloured glass and the like, turning round lazily on bits of string suspended from the ceiling. The room is cramped, but neat, a pile of bedding shoved to one corner and a battered little stove in another. Half light filters in from broken places in the ceiling, catching on all the glittering things like jewels in a treasure trove. "It’s like a magpie's nest." He laughs a little.

 Levi glares. "What’s a magpie?" He rummages in the sack and tosses Isabel an apple. She squeals and splits it between herself and Farlan. Levi sinks to the floor and splits an apple with Eren.

 "A bird that likes shiny things." Eren joins them on the floor and bites into his apple, gazing up at the glittering ceiling. "You said that was your first hit on a big mark, right? What kept you from... I dunno, robbing jewellery stores till now?"

 Levi blinks at him. A slow, interested look passes over his face. "Jewellery store huh? You’re not that dumb huh, Eren?"

 "Some would beg to differ." Eren smirks, wiping juice from his mouth. Levi watches him carefully, thoughtfully chewing his own apple, Eren tilts his head at him questioningly.

 "We didn’t hit stores cause we didn’t have the muscle till now." A small, chilly little smile bares Levi’s teeth. "But you have surprisingly good ideas sometimes, it seems." He scuttles over to the bedding, and flicks a large piece of paper at Farlan that he finds underneath it. "Start planning a heist for the nearest jewellery store. Let’s start catching us some big fish." He rounds suddenly on Eren, finger under his nose. His nail is jagged and bitten. "You. We're gonna train you day and night till you can pick a purse with the best of them."

 The day wanes into afternoon. Levi demonstrates over and over again, not particularly kindly, how to run at a mark just so, and pick their pocket. "Ladies are harder, cause they have purses. Focus on gents." Levi leans back and watches his progress. Which isn’t much, but Eren grits his teeth, determined to pick Levi's pocket at least once.

 They gather on the roof for dinner. Farlan and Isabel share a bottle of milk heated on the stove and laced with honey back and forth, staring up at the scraps of sky they can see through the massive dome, letting dim moonlight and night noises filter down to them. "So." Eren starts, chewing through a fatty bit of meat with relish. Levi shoots him a look of disgust. "What is this place? Where are we?"

 Levi shrugs. "A long time ago, humanity tried to escape the titans by going underground. But the walls were built, so this plan was abandoned. Now it’s just a slum under Sina."

 Eren sucks in a sharp breath. "We're at wall Sina?" Levi hums. Eren flops back against the stone, staring up. Given the rather exciting events of his day, he’d almost forgotten about everyone, everything. Was Mikasa worried? Did they think he'd run away? Was he a fugitive now? Would the Lance Corporal have to execute him for his actions? He'd have to find a way back to the scouting legion. But not before helping Levi with his job. He'd saved him, sort of, even if he was a pain in the ass. "I’m really far from home."

 "Anyone with eyes could see that. C'mon. It’s late." Levi swings with ease back into the little room, glittery things tinkling charmingly at the movement. Eren follows. Levi leaves the kids asleep on the roof, saying they'll come in when they get cold enough, and spreads the bedding across the thin wood floor. It creaks as they move to fluff pillows and curl under blankets. Its spring, but the air in the underground city is cold and damp. 

 It’s almost a comfort to be sleeping next to another body again, reminding him of his cadet days, Armin's nose pressed against his shoulder. Levi lays barely an arm’s length away from him, close enough to feel his heat, hear his breathing. "You’re letting me sleep here." He broaches quietly, in case Levi is already asleep. 

 A sharp eye cracks open to appraise him. "Quick on the uptake ain’t ya?" He says blandly, and rolls over to face Eren, who bristles at the insult. He smoothes it over almost instantly. "You run with us. You’re pack now. You helped feed us today." That seems to be all Levi needs to prove Eren is worthy. He hugs his pillow, and falls asleep promptly. Eren envies him. He’s restless, sleeping next to another body is familiar and welcome but strange. He shifts closer and Levi grunts.

 "So what’s up with Farlan?" He whispers. Levi's eyes pop open and narrow to glare. "He hasn’t said a word, and only talks to Isabel."

 "You’re the nosiest little shit." He shoves his pillow at Eren's face. "Farlan's parents were murdered in front of him by the military police three years ago. He hasn’t exactly had it easy." He punches Eren, none too gently, and rolls over to claim another pillow. "Now could you please for the love of god go to sleep?"

 Eren stares out from under the pillow at the hole in the ceiling. The pillow smells like dust, and Levi. It’s cool, and a little lumpy. "I had no idea the military police was that corrupt." He says more to himself than anything. But beside him, Levi's body goes stiff, his breathing suddenly shallow and strained.

 "The world you come from must be peaches and fucking cream, Eren." Levi says with venom. "But this world, here, there’s nothing sweet about it. It’s all shit and piss smeared onto fucking corpses."

 If Eren didn’t know that tone, perhaps he'd have tackled Levi for the insult. But he knows that tone. He hears it in his own voice when he speaks of the titans, of winning. "We're living in a fucking cage. This dome, the walls, its one big fucking cage, and one day, I’m going to smash it." Levi's eyes are bright in the dark, reflecting the little pinpricks of light that the ceiling has become, like handmade stars. "We'll be free of the fucking cage soon."

 Levi is quiet, while Eren stares back at him earnestly. A heart beat passes, and Levi snorts. Eren deflates at the response. "You dream big." He says. He touches Eren's cheek fleetingly, barely a brush of cool fingers. He rolls over, and is asleep. Eren watches his back before scooting closer, pressing against his back like he used to with Reiner. Levi is warm and small and breathing evenly. It lulls Eren to sleep.

 *

 Morning finds Isabel curled around Eren's arm, sucking her thumb and holding her blanket. Farlan sleeps on the opposite side of Eren, curled into a tiny whimpering little ball. Levi is already awake, hooking glittery things on strings to the ceiling, adding to his growing collection. Eren can vaguely hear another demonstration going on outside. He disentangles himself from the children and moves to the window. He can see a long line of battered carriages. Every so often the caravan stops, and the military police shout, and haul someone into them. He’s glad now Levi had rescued him from their path.

 "They do this every morning?" He gestures out the window. Levi hums, and toes Farlan and Isabel awake. "What does it even accomplish?"

 "Cleans the streets. People are always flooding in from the outer walls. The demonstrations drag them back." Levi jerks his chin at the sack of spoils. "Dig up some breakfast?" 

 Eren finds two crusty buns, slightly stale from sitting out all night. Under Levi's watchful eye, he tears the bread to pieces in a bowl, pours the remaining milk over it, and drizzles honey on top. "My mom used to do this when bread got hard." He explains, putting the whole mixture over the stove to heat. Levi hums with interest.

 "Smells good." Isabel mumbles sleepily as Levi ties her blanket around her waist. "You'd make a good mommy, Eren." She gives a jaw cracking yawn and starts rolling up the bedding, with Farlan still in it, as Eren just gapes at her, then looks to Levi, who just shrugs, an amused expression twisting his mouth. 

 They eat breakfast on the roof, taking in the morning sunlight. The taste of soppy bread and honey is nostalgic, and Eren sniffles to hold back any tears, biting the inside of his cheek as he chews. If Levi notices, he doesn’t comment. "Shake a leg, shit stains." He calls, sliding down the rickety ladder with practiced grace and ease. "Eren may be pretty lousy at picking pockets, but at least he's got big old eyes going for him. Let’s get a move on before it’s too crowded."

 The surface is just as sparkling as it appeared yesterday. Eren squints in the sunlight and shields his eyes with his hands. Isabel and Farlan break off from them with a backward wave. When Eren looks at Levi in question, he shrugs and says they can take care of themselves. He combs some dust through Eren’s hair none too gently, smears it on his cheeks with a quick swipe of small fingertips. "One filthy brat's as good as another to those pigs." He says by way of explanation. 

 The plan is simple when Levi explains it. They'll run around like typical kids, Levi will bump into his mark, Eren will apologize and "make sure you bat those big eyes of yours real nice. Ladies'll eat that up." And they'll run off again.

 "That one, walking beside the lady in the green dress. You see ‘em?" Eren nods when he follows the line of Levi's finger. A fat elderly gentleman is walking along side a younger lady in a moss green dress, his daughter perhaps. He’s not sure what makes him stand out as a good mark, but Levi cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders, preparing for their little gimmick. "Ready?" Eren nods and sucks in a breath. He’s taken aback when Levi's face suddenly splits in a grin, showing all his teeth. The air rends with his laugh, and he tears from the alley way, laughing and breathless. A boy having fun.

 Eren runs after him, a smile starting to grow on his own face as they play a game of tag, swerving between people, laughing. Levi bumps right into his mark and takes off, leaving Eren to turn and smile at the pair.  "Sorry miss, sir." He beams. The old man huffs and grumbles to be bothered by a street urchin, but the young woman puts her hand on his arm and smiles back, waving at him with little lace gloved fingers to run along."Sorry again!"  He runs off in the direction Levi went.

 He's waiting for him at another little alley way, picking through a heavy purse of coins and thick wads of bills. "Wow, he was fucking loaded." Eren exclaims. Levi shrugs and tucks the money away securely, tossing the purse into a puddle. He watches Levi for a moment, a frown pulling his mouth. "You should smile more often." He doesn’t tell Levi that he looks prettier when he smiles.

 "I smile when I have to. Besides. Life took a shit on your face, now it’s stuck in that fucking frown." He waves his hand at Eren's face impassively. "You’d look fucking cute if you smiled."

 Eren feels his cheeks heat. "You'd look pretty if you smiled!" He blurts, flustered by the compliment.

 Levi raises a brow at him, and Eren's sure his cheeks are flaming now. "Pretty? What am I, a girl?" He reaches up and cuffs Eren over the head. They scuffle without any real anger, their hits lacking power behind them. "Come on, I see a good one. Beside the girl in that hideous pink thing."

 Their little act of tag becomes a game. Levi's bare feet pound the cobble stones, and Eren's just behind him. The sun is hot on the backs of their necks, as the day wears on the crowds get thicker, harder to navigate between and follow their marks. Eren dips his hand into a pocket or two, the busyness of the street lending cover to his lack of skill.

 "One more." Levi says, wiping sweat from his forehead and blowing his bangs out of his eyes futilely. "That one beside the lady in the blue dress."

 Eren scans the crowd, squinting a little. He can see several blue dresses. "Which?" He asks, rolling up his sleeves to feel a little cooler.

 "Pale blue dress. Not the navy blue one, or that really-- forget it, just follow me."

 Which is easier said than done. Eren chases after the flash of black that is Levi's wild hair, or his pale bare feet, but he loses him pretty quickly. Eren stands still, looking frantically all around him, ignoring the irritated looks of passersby, trying to stand on his tip toes to see over the sea of top hats and parasols. 

 He does spot him, and hurries over, only to stop short.

 "Let me go!" Levi growls, breathless and frustrated, thin fingers clawing at thick ones wrapped around his bony wrist. A young man, not much older than either of them but much taller, holds him tirelessly, neat, blonde haired and blue eyed. "I didn’t do nothing, fucking let me go!"

 "I will as soon as you return my wallet." He replies.

 "He didn’t take your wallet!" Eren shouts, hurrying over, fists up the way Annie taught him. When the giant reaches for him, he'll use his strength against him. The young man just looks at them both appraisingly, raising one thick eyebrow.

 "I don’t want to have to call the military police into this situation." He says, and Eren scowls while Levi fights all the harder, kicking at the man's shins. Being barefoot, it hurts him more than it does his captor, but he just snarls viciously and tries to swipe at the young man's face with blunt nails. "Please return my wallet to me." 

 "I didn’t take your fucking wallet!" Eren senses them running out of options. Levi's going to go for the knife in his pocket any second, and then they'll be in more trouble than they can deal with. The crowd opens up behind the young man as Eren looks everywhere for options, places to run, a friendly face for help. His eyes fall to the cobblestones where a little wallet lies, a few crumpled bills sticking out of it. 

 Eren beams and hurries over, picking it up. "Here! Is this it? You must have dropped it!" 

 The young man takes the wallet one handed and flicks it open, the other hand still gripping Levi. Eren has a hold on his other wrist, ready to dash. "Yes, thank you." The young man says. He gives them a chilling smile, and lets Levi go. They dart away in an instant. But Eren feels his eyes following him as they go.

 "Fuck." Levi sighs, rubbing his wrist where a bruise is already forming in the shape of fingers.

 "What happened?" Eren's heart is in his throat again, he knees turned to jelly from too much excitement. Levi huffs.

 "I bumped into that fucking behemoth on the way to my mark. I didn’t even touch his pockets, but he grabbed me anyway." His jaw tightens as he glares coldly at the wall. He turns to Eren. "That guy was the fucking devil. I wish he'd called the military police, them I know how to deal with." He combs a hand through his hair, tying it back with string. "Come on, let’s go home."

 *

 Dying red sunlight streams into the holes in the dome, and the sky they can see is a wash of oranges and purples and pinks. Eren is glad to see the ladder to the little room their little band shares. He’s starving and exhausted. The room smells of cooking when he climbs in.

 "Welcome back!" Isabel chirps. She has her blanket tied around her like an apron and a wooden spoon in one hand as she stirs something on the stove. Farlan busies himself with setting up four pillows in a circle on the floor, a spread of bread and cheese in the center. "I made dinner!" Farlan shoots her a look. "Farlan helped." He rolls his eyes.

 "What’s that in your hair?" Levi gestures vaguely at her. Isabel touches a hand to her hair, where a ribbon is clumsily tied, and smiles cheekily.

 "The other little girl obviously didn’t appreciate them." She says primly. "So I decided to re-reacquisi-reac... I took 'em." Levi waves her over and undoes her clumsy knots. Finger combing her hair into a semblance of order, he ties the ribbon in a neat bow. "How do I look?" She twirls.

 "Like a princess." Eren says, tearing into hunk of bread. Isabel stares at him for a long moment before plopping down beside him, hugging his arm and grinning. Farlan hides a raspy laugh behind his hand, silenced immediately by Isabel's glare.

 Levi makes a long sound through his nose. "Quite the sweet talker we got here. Isabel better watch out for her heart."

 "It’s okay." Isabel says around a mouthful of cheese. "Eren's dumb. And Levi says dumb boys are easier to control, and that when I get big, I can wrap them around my finger." She looks up at Eren and studies him with narrowed eyes. Eren pauses mid chew and watches her back. She shrugs. "I might as well practice now. Eren, do you wanna be my boyfriend?"

 Eren sputters, banging on his chest as his bread goes down the wrong pipe. Levi shakes his head at them. "You don’t want that one, Bel, he's only good for heavy lifting."

 Isabel shrugs. "Works for me. I’m the brains of this operation."

 After dinner, they lay on the roof, taking in the cooler evening air. There’s no real wind in the underground, just a hint of a breeze that swirls the dust around annoyingly. Farlan and Isabel whisper together, leaving Levi and Eren to count their spoils. There are a couple interesting odds and ends, a gold pocket watch, a large emerald ring, a silver cigar case. "Quality stuff." Levi murmurs, drawing out a cigar.

 "You smoke?" Eren asks, watching Levi finger the cigar thoughtfully.

 He shrugs. "When I can get my hands on something that’s more than newspaper and dandelion leaves." He puts the cigar back in its case. "In the meantime, I know a guy I can pass this on to." He tucks their spoils away in a little treasure chest and hides it back in the room.

 They lay together in silence for a while, the night growing deeper around them. The rustle and movement of the underground city around them slows and stills.

 "Don’t you get sick of not seeing the stars?" Eren sighs, reaching his fingers out as though to touch the dome far above them.

 "Yeah." Levi shrugs. "But when I do, I just go up to the battlements."

 "The battlements?" Eren repeats, watching Levi stand.

 "Yeah, come on." He kicks his ankle, and sets off across the roofs without waiting to see if Eren would follow. He does, and he wonders how someone with such small legs can move so fast. He practically jogs to keep up with Levi's long strides, following him up a winding stair case carved into the stone. 

 They come out atop the dome. The stone is soft with moss and damp with dew, and Eren buries his fingers in it, luxuriating in the texture. Jagged teeth of battlements line the stone space, like a castle tower. Levi makes himself comfortable and sprawls with his hands behind his head, staring at the navy blue blanket of sky dotted all over with stars. Watching Levi, Eren can see the stars caught in his sharp grey eyes. He lies beside him, and turns his gaze heavenward.

 "Armin told me that the stars used to have names and stories attached to them." He says conversationally, tracing with his fingers dotted lines over the constellations. "And before the walls, before the titans, people used to use the stars as a map, so they wouldn’t get lost." Levi hums softly, and Eren turns to look at his profile.

 They are quiet for a long time. Eren nearly falls asleep before Levi speaks again. "You were gonna fight that blonde behemoth today." He says as though just realizing it. Eren blinks. Levi turns to stare at him, brows furrowed, studying his face. Eren doesn’t know what he finds there, but a snort of amusement bursts from him. "That guy was a fucking demon, and you were gonna fight him."

 "Course I was. I’d have won too." That earns another snort. "What did you think I was gonna do, leave you? Not a chance!" Levi goes still at that. "Not a chance." Eren repeats earnestly. He reaches over and grasps Levi's wrist, gently, so as not to aggravate the bruise blooming darkly on the pale, fragile skin. Levi watches their entwined limbs blankly, then nods.

 "You’re pack." He says as though that explains everything. Somehow, it has more meaning now than when Levi first said it, and Eren's chest flushes with warmth.

 He shifts so he’s facing Levi, and something jangles in his pocket. "Oh." He sits up and digs out the trinket, tossing it to Levi who studies it curiously. "Not all your lessons were useless." He grins.

 Levi grunts a sound of admiration, studying the little cameo pendant. "Not bad at all." He allows. The pendant is carved with an image of a girl, set in a silver base. He works it around and around in his fingers, studying the flash of it.

 "You really are a magpie." Levi scowls and punches him in the arm. Eren sticks out his tongue and punches back. Too tired now to scuffle the way they did in the afternoon, they go still. Below them, the lights of the city wink out one by one, and the stars seem to grow brighter. "I was thinking."

 "Uh oh."

 "Isabel, Farlan...they aren’t actually related to you, so how did you end up taking care of them?"

 Levi shuffles against the moss, and makes a contemplative noise. "Dunno. Saw them, and they needed me. So I just...picked them up." When Eren just watches him instead of replying, he glowers. "What."

 "You’re a surprisingly kind guy." He observes. 

 Levi's glower deepens. "Keep testing me and we'll see how nice I get." Eren stares at Levi until the other boy sighs with exasperation and rolls over to face him. They lay close in the moss, their shirts soaked through with dew, the chill of the night breeze raises goose bumps on exposed skin. But their mingled breaths are warm. "The wheel in your head is obviously still turning, so just spit it out."

 "What about you?" Levi lifts a brow. "How did you end up here? Doing all of this?"

 Eren regrets asking for the way Levi's mouth pulls into a thin, sour line, and his eyes grow hard. He ages ten years in the space it takes to breathe. But he's glad Levi doesn’t move away from him. "I don’t wanna talk about it." He growls.

 Eren nods and shuffles closer, so that their knees touch. "My mom was killed." He says. He sees her behind his eyes, struggling vainly against that massive hand, her broken body shoved into that massive grinning mouth. He thinks he's going to throw up. He puts a shaking hand over his mouth and tries to breathe, ignoring Levi's eyes on him.

 "If there’s one thing I’ve learned," he says, touching Eren's trembling fingers. "It’s that you can’t regret the past, because you can’t do anything about it." He pries Eren's hand from his mouth. "The only thing you can do is refuse to regret your future."

 Levi's fingers are cold, but his palm is warm. He tugs at Eren, pulling him to sit up. "Let’s head back." He says gently, like coaxing a frightened horse. He’s not really sure why, but that tone in his voice helps the shaking subside.

 *

 Eren didn’t realize the quality of life could get any worse in the underground. But the deeper they go, the darker and dirtier it becomes. He follows Levi's small back and studiously ignores the people lining the streets, staring listlessly at nothing, slumped against crumbling walls, the image of despair.

 "I thought the military police clean out the underground every morning." Eren whispers. He tries not to trip over errant legs and drunk lumps of people.

 "They don’t come this deep. For good reason." Levi glances around, hooks his fingers around Eren's wrist and pulls him into the shadow of a tall building. It smells like piss, and a vagrant with a scraggly beard leans out of a crevice.

 "Who’s your friend, Levi?" He says in a sleep roughened voice, but his eyes are deceptively sharp, studying Eren up and down until Levi steps in front of him.

 "He’s with me." He answers shortly, reaching into his pocket for their treasures.

 "He’s in military issue boots." Eren looks down at his feet, where his scuffed knee high boots squelch in suspicious mud.

 "He’s with me." Levi repeats coldly. "Do you want my business or not?"

 The vagrant whistles between his teeth, hands held up peaceably. "Alright alright, just wanted to be sure you’re not in those pigs’ pockets." Levi snorts, and lays out their spoils. The vagrant inspects each, opening the cigar case to count the cigars inside. "What about this?" He picks up the cameo pendant, which Levi quickly snatches away.

 "Keeping that." He says, tucking it in his pocket. Eren flushes with pleasure that Levi likes his gift. He watches Levi haggle with the vagrant with only vague interest. Levi's voice cracks a little when it shifts higher, and he coughs to cover it. "We're planning something big. I need to know that I can trust you to move a whole lot of cargo."

 "What are you planning?" The vagrant asks shrewdly, his gaze shifting once more to Eren suspiciously. "Nothing involving the military?"

 "Nothing like that. Its going down tonight. Will you be--"

 Someone bursts into the alleyway from the building, looking just as dirty and wretched as the vagrant, who stands and hurriedly stashes their bargained treasures in the folds of his ratty cloak. "Military police raid!" He shouts urgently before running back inside.

 "I thought you said they didn’t come this far!" Eren says, adrenaline flooding his veins. Levi clucks his tongue impatiently, looking for a way out. They can hear the rattles of a caravan of military police carriages and the clanging of a gong growing steadily closer. Beyond the shadow of the building, other people yell as they’re gathered and tossed into the carriages.

 "It was you!" The vagrant hisses, grabbing Eren by the collar and shaking him roughly. Eren claws at his arm, but he doesn’t let him go. "You’re a rat for the military police and you lead them right to me. Let’s see how they react to their little--" the vagrant doesn’t have a chance to finish his threat as Levi's fist cracks against his jaw, sending a tooth flying. His grip slackens, and Eren promptly knees him in the guts so he stumbles away. Levi's fingers curl around his wrist, and Eren doesn’t need to be told to run.

 There are people shouting, more people still running and hiding. Levi dips in and among them like a shadow, holding tight to Eren's wrist. He wants to ask what’s going on but he has neither the breath nor the luxury. Levi leads them in the opposite flow of the people struggling to escape the raid, people bumping into them, or stepping on them as they go. They pause in the doorway of a dilapidated structure, breathing hard. The military police gong seems distant now, and Eren wonders how many of the people they passed were captured.

 "Its better we head to the surface, rather than risk leading someone unfriendly back to Bel and Farlan." They don’t move though. Like a puppet cut from his strings Levi falls back against the worn stone wall with a heavy sigh. He's quiet a few moments, and Eren watches him with concern until he lifts his eyes to meet his. "Did that ass hole hurt you anywhere?" He asks, reaching over to smooth Eren's crumpled shirt.

 "Not as much hurt as we gave him." Eren grins. Levi's mouth twitches at that. Now that the excitement has drained from him, Eren feels just as tired. He leans heavily in the door way.

 "Farlan's completed the plans for the heist tonight." Levi says when it becomes clear neither of them is going to move.

 "We should go and scope out the place a bit beforehand."

 

"Let’s just...stay here a moment." Leaning across from each other, Levi's foot slides out until their ankles brush. Eren doesn’t move away.

 *

 The jewellery store is as splendid as Eren imagines with noon sunlight shining into the crystalline windows and sparkling off the display cases inside. Until he came to wall Sina, Eren had never seen so many jewels in one place before. He marvels at each ring and necklace and bracelet from his place on the next roof over. Farlan snoops around back while Levi takes the front, and Isabel takes the roof of the store.

 Just like their pick pocketing scheme, the plan is simple. Isabel will keep watch while Farlan picks the locks, and he and Levi take out any security hanging around the place. From there, he and Levi will sneak in, take as much as they can in five minutes while Farlan keeps count. An in and out mission.

 Eren feels like his legs are going to shake out from under him, while his fists clench with determination. For the past few days, he’s had no idea where he was, or how he got there. The scouting legion has yet to come looking for him, not that they would have much reason to believe he would be anywhere in the underground of Sina. But he needs to go home.

 He doesn’t really want to leave the trio at the building across from them. He wants to help Levi. And he wants to stay.

 "You’ve been quiet." Levi says after a quick lunch. Eren stops picking at flecks of mud on his boots to look at Levi. "What’s eating ya?"

 Eren deliberates for a bit with renewed interest in his boots, fingernails scraping against the brown leather. Levi slaps his fingers warningly. "It’s this mark I guess." He offers with a shrug. "The food, the pick pocketing....it was one thing. Robbing this place would feel...different."

 "Listen." Levi says sharply, putting his hand on Eren's bent knee and shaking so that he'll meet his eyes. "There’s nothing wrong with taking things from people who don’t deserve them. There’s nothing wrong with taking what you want."

 Eren hums, and looks up at Levi through his lashes. "You’re kinda ruthless."

 Levi leans back with a shrug. "It’s necessary here. You can’t afford to be soft in this place." Watching Levi set up the bedding on the floor, Eren is seized once more by curiosity. He wants to know where he came from, when he was born. Who he knew and how he came to be as he is now. He crawls into the bedding alongside Levi. It’s strange trying the sleep with the sun still out, not that it makes much difference in the underground, casting everything in half light. Levi flicks a glance at him over his shoulder and sighs with exasperation. "God you’re so irritating."

 Eren blinks. "What did I do?"

 "You wear your every thought on your face. You might as well just spit it out."

 Confronted with his curiosity, Eren is slightly mollified. Levi waits with a raised brow, chin propped on his fist as he lies on his side. The room is quiet. Farlan is on the roof, hammering out the details of his plans. Isabel is running around the city somewhere, her hair a wild tangled mess. Their breathing seems loud in the small space. "I wanna know about you." He says.

 Levi clicks his tongue and shakes his head almost fondly. "I wasn’t born here, if that’s what you wanna know. I’m from the north district of wall Maria. I was living with my asshole dad and my big sister."

 "What happened?" He knows there can’t possibly be a happy end to Levi's story. Not with him here in Sina's underground, taking care of two children in no way related to him.

 Levi shrugs. It’s a dismissive gesture, and his mouth grows hard. "My sister died, and my dad pissed off somewhere. I came here thinking things would be..."

 "Better." Eren supplies. Levi snorts at that. They both know that within the walls, better is impossible. Eren frowns at a loose thread in the bedding, twisting it around his finger. "It’s alright if this world is...."

 "A shit hole"

 "There’s a world beyond the walls. There’s the ocean and deserts, and lands completely covered in ice where colours dance in the sky." Eren thinks this is the only time he's seen Levi with a vague look of wonder, his eyes dark with imagining the things he and Armin whispered together about as kids. "All we need to do is stop living in this cage like animals. And you can go wherever you feel like."

 Levi thinks about this with a soft hum. He touches Eren's hand, tangling their fingers. Eren bites his lip. Levi's skin looks so pale against his own, cool fingers and bitten nails resting against Eren's warm ones. "I want to see mountains."

 "There’re mountains in the walls."

 "Those are just foot hills. I want to climb the tallest mountain in the world, and scream."

 The way he says it is almost childish. Eren smiles. "Okay." His hand tightens on Levi’s. "All we need to do is break free and--"

 Levi's lips are warm and surprising against his own. Just a gentle press of skin, soft and chafed and a little damp. Eren blinks and studies the black curve of Levi's lashes shadowed against his cheek, before he closes his eyes too, and presses his lips harder, daring to comb his fingers through Levi’s hair.

 Levi chews the inside of his cheek when they separate. Eren can’t stop grinning, and Levi's expression quickly devolves into a stormy look. "Alright you shit, get some rest for tonight." 

 They don’t let go of each other’s hands.

 *

 Eren wakes to familiar morning sounds. The damp smell of stone, the cry of soldiers in training. Hanji's cackling laugh resounding down the stone halls. Being in his dungeon cell again is strange. He stares at his hand, where Levi’s little fingers had curled while they fell asleep. Had any of that been real then? He combs his fingers through his hair and fists them there. Just another long strange dream to tease at the edges of his mind like a memory.

 "You getting up any time soon, brat? I’m not getting any younger." Lance corporal Levi snaps dispassionately from the bars of Eren's cell, arms crossed over his chest. The light from a high narrow window back lights him, making the shadows on his face even heavier as he gazes at Eren through the bars.

 Eren looks at him mournfully and moves slowly out of bed. He thinks now that Levi had the same name as the lance corporal, who studies him, grunts, and stalks upstairs, boot heels clicking against the stone.

 He wonders if Levi misses him, if the hit went successfully. He wonders where they are, Levi and Isabel and Farlan. He wonders if they’d even actually existed. He climbs up the stairs to breakfast with heavy feet and plops down at one of the outdoor tables where everyone decided to have their meal. Mikasa gives him a questioning look, bumping their shoulders. He can only shake his head at her.

 "Where are--" Hanji gasps, touching her face, the top of her head, and her chest. She looks helplessly around herself, then at the ground. "Has anyone seen – Levi!"

 Levi hums, kicking his feet up on the table as the rest of the squad watches. He twirls Hanji's goggles around his fingers until they make a wooshing noise as they move through the air. "Yeah, dingbat?" He asks, almost innocently, almost playfully, pausing to begin twirling the glasses in the other direction. 

 "Give them back." Hanji sighs, holding out her hand for them, the other on her cocked hip. Levi shrugs, and flicks them at her over the length of the table, narrowly missing jean's bowl of soup as Hanji catches them.

 Eren watches the exchange in fascination. "Should take better care of your stuff, dingbat." He says, tipping his chair back on its hind legs. Hanji snorts and says something about that being impossible when Levi keeps pick pocketing her, but Eren isn’t listening to her. Oh, Eren thinks, watching the lance corporal with wide eyes until he catches him looking and frowns in question. Oh, he knows that move very well.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not even sure if this counts as time travel or eren having those weird prophetic dreams that seem to be a thing with him. all I know is that i wrote 8k just for a single kiss. fuck.


End file.
